Faculty from George Washington (GW) University’s Medicine and Health Sciences spoke Tuesday at a career development panel cohosted by the MGH Institute and the Mass General Slavin Academy, offering their advice for how healthcare scholars can advance their careers.

Professors Maranda Ward, EdD, MPH and Patrick Corr, EdD addressed dozens of students, faculty, and staff during the event, entitled Advancing Health Equity through Education: Insights and Strategies for Impactful Community-Based Scholarship. Reamer Bushardt, Provost & Vice President for Academic Affairs at the MGH Institute, moderated the panel and invited Ward and Corr to speak after working with them during his time as senior associate dean in the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at GW.

“So much of their work overlaps with the things that we really care about at the MGH Institute,” Bushardt said. “Miranda and Patrick have really turned their personal passions, which are community service and engagement, into their faculty lives and weaved them beautifully into their teaching.”

Ward is an assistant professor and director of equity in the Department of Clinical Research and Leadership at GW, and she spoke about integrating JEDI principles into public health instruction. Corr had a background in higher education administration before he obtained his Doctor of Education, and he offered advice for people with nontraditional backgrounds entering academia.

Together, they discussed stepping into early academic roles and seeking out community and mentorship opportunities. They also shared their strategies for career advancement, such as setting boundaries, defining goals, and being proactive.

Before event attendees joined breakout groups to ask individual questions, Bushardt thanked his former colleagues for sharing their perspectives with members of the Institute.

“Organizations like ours really succeed when we invest in our people — our students, our faculty our staff, and when they thrive, we thrive,” Bushardt said. “It’s really awesome to hear not only how well Maranda and Patrick are both doing, but to learn from them and share it.”